University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1993 Accounts of the Chinese People's Volunteers Prisoners of War: A Translation Jin Daying The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Daying, Jin, "Accounts of the Chinese People's Volunteers Prisoners of War: A Translation" (1993). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 9335. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/9335 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maureen and Mike MANSFIELD LIBRARY TheMontana University of Permission is granted by the author to reproduce this material in its entirety, provided that this material is usedforscholarlypurposesandis properly cited in published works and reports. ** Please check “Yes ’’ or “No ” and provide signature** s / Yes, I grant permission JzL • No, I do not grant permission____ Author’s Signature M 7 ^ - ^ Date: 3o j I^ 3 _______ Any copying for commercial purposes or financial gain may be undertaken only with the author’s explicit consent. ACCOUNTS OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE’S VOLUNTEERS PRISONERS OF WAR: A TRANSLATION by Li Zhihua Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts University of Montana 1993 Approved by Chairman, Board of Examiners / L‘ Dean, Graduate School Date UMI Number: EP72647 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI EP72647 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Zhihua, Li, M.A., December 1993 English Literature Accounts of the Chinese People’s Volunteers Prisoners of War: A Translation , / / - / ljtw. Director: Henry R. Harrington I ^ This thesis comprises the translation of Jin Daying’s book of reportage Accounts of the CPV POWs and an introduction to this reportage work by the translator. Jin Daying’s Accounts of the CFV POWs records life of the CPV (Chinese People’s Volunteers) POWs in the U.S. POW camps in South Korea during the Korean War in the early 1950s. The book is made up of the individual life stories of the CPV POWs, their experiences in the POW camps and after their return to the People’s Republic of China. The book contains much first-hand data. Most of the names of the characters, places, descriptions of events, and dates are verifiable. Altogether, approximately 159 POWs with names are mentioned in the book, of whom some are still living today and others died either in the POW camps or after they returned home. The stories of the specific POWs are woven into the narrative to give it continuity. Jin Daying, from his Chinese point of view, sings praises of those Chinese Communist POWs who rebelled against the control of the U.S. POW camp authorities and condemns the U.S. and South Korean POW camp guards’ maltreatment of the Chinese and North Korean POWs as well as the horrible deeds committed by some anti- Communist POWs. In his introduction to the translation of Jin Daying’s book, the translator offers a survey of The Resist America and Aid Korea War studies in China, a description of the Chinese popular culture onThe Resist America and Aid Korea War as reflected in literary reportage, and his commentary of Jin Daying’s accounts of the CPV POWs. Ackno wle dgements I would like to thank several people who have made important contributions to this translation of Jin Daying’s book of reportageAccounts of the Chinese People's volunteers Prisoners of War: Philip West and Henry Harrington for the advice, support, and editorial comments; and Cathy Brown for the many hours she has spent in editing the whole translation. Introduction Zhiyuanjun Zhanfu Jishi (Accounts of the CFV POWs) and Its Contribution to the Studies on the Korean War In the preface to his book, Jin Daying writes: As several comrades whom I know very well have been engaged in reexamining the returned CPV POWs since 1979, I have had the opportunity to learn from them about the unusual experiences of the CPV POWs and to meet with these POWs on many occasions, who have survived the Korean War. However, because of various reasons, I did not start writing until the early half of 1986 when an editor from the Kunlun editorial department asked for me for "writing leave," the first time in my life. My authorities gave me the permission to leave. And then I started my seven weeks’s busy interviewing and writing. I read through nearly five hundred letters of appeal handed in by the returned POWs as well as many of their brief autobiographies, self-accounts, and reminiscences. I also read the confessions by those POWs who later became U.S. secret agents and were captured when they were sent back to North Korea, and the court verdicts given to them by the court- martial. I interviewed the representative figures of the CPV POWs. And my friend Comrade Liu Wuyi helped me find out lots of background materials on The Resist America and Aid Korea War. From what is said above, we can see that Jin Daying based his book primarily on interviews with specific POWs. In writing it, Jin Daying tried to give an "impartial appraisal" of the POWs, thus entering the realm of what would now be the "risky literature," showing the good and the bad. Jin felt at the time when he was writing his book that reportage writings in China were getting "more and more imaginary," so much so that the readers i could not tell the true from the false. Jin Daying was determined to base his book on facts by "quoting as often as possible the reminiscences and personal records by the witnesses." Jin Daying decided to offer the readers "more real accounts and fewer literary descriptions." It was quite possible for Jin Daying to do that in 1986 when the Chinese people wrote and talked with a freedom that the government finally was compelled to curtail on June 4, 1989 in Beijing. First of all, we should say that Jin Daying’s book Zhiyuanjun zhanfu jishi (Accounts of the CPV POWs) is basically true. The book does contain much first-hand data. Most of the names of the characters, places, description of events, and dates are verifiable. Many of the characters the author mentions in the book are still living. For instance, Wu Chengde, the supposedly highest ranking officer among the CPV POWs, is now retired and lives in his home town in Yuncheng County, Shanxi Province; Zhang Zeshi now works in the Association of Science and Technology of Beijing Municipality, and he himself has written and published a book of memoirs entitled Wocong meijun jizhongying guilai (I Return from the Concentration Camp of the American Army) (Zhang Zeshi, Beijing: > Zhongguo wenshi chubanshe, The Chinese Culture and History Publishing House, 1989). This book was first serialized in the magazine Zongheng entitled Lianyu zhi huo (The Fire of the Purgatory) between 1988 and 1989; Wei Lin retired in 1982 and now lives in Liaoning. Many other POWs mentioned in the book can also be found in. different parts of the country: Hou Guangfu in Henan, Cao You in Hubei, Sun Zhenguan in Zhejiang, Zhang Da in Beijing, Tang Naiyao in Shanghai, He Pinggu in Chongqing, Li Xier in Wuhan, and Ma Youjun in Sichuan. The accounts of Li Da’an and Chen Jiaying, two of the so-called renedades among the CPV POWs, are also quite convincing. Li Da’an was executed at 4:30 p.m. on July 10, 1958 in the suburbs of Beijing according to the historical archives. Chen Jiaying is, I believe, also a real character now living in Hunan, for the author has offered us in the book Chen Jiaying’s original confessions made in early 1953. In order to make the book seem true to life, Jin Daying has used simple sentences instead of compound and complex sentences. JinDaying, as a Chinese author, has presented the whole book from a Chinese point of view. And he, like the other Chinese writers, mentions the U.S. as the vii primary enemy. Jin writes about how the Americans raped the female Chinese and Korean POWs, and how the Americans ill-treated and tortured the Chinese POWs in the Pusan, Cheju-do and Koje-do POW camps. Americans beat and killed the POWs, cut off food and water supplies, and forced POWs to eat human excrement on the ground. Despite the obvious patriotic tone of the book, Jin Daying strives for objectivity. On occasion he praises the humanitarianism of the Americans. For instance, in Chapter Two Jin Daying writes: There is no denying that there were also some humane and noble-minded American army doctors. Wei Lin, vice chief of staff of a CPV regiment, has never forgotten Doctor Ausman, an American Captain, who treated his wounded hand with great care.